Oil prices mixed but little changed as sanctions loom

The statistical arm of the US Energy Department, the Energy Information Administration, made this known on Wednesday, revealing that the crude oil exports rose by 582,000 barrels per day last week to an all-time record high of 2.331 million barrels per day. "In addition, the risk to this scenario is on the upside for the short term if new sanctions are imposed on Iran", leading up to the May 12 OPEC meeting.

Brent, against which Nigeria's oil is priced, stood at $73.87 per barrel as of 8:05pm Nigerian time on Wednesday, while the WTI traded around $67.90 per barrel.

Also, this is expected to fall 1.796 million bpd by June when compared with 1.895 million bpd in May's revised export programme, the report said.

Following his visit to Washington, French President Emanuel Macron appeared to have little hope of persuading US President Donald Trump to remain in a nuclear deal with Iran, meaning more sanctions against the Middle Eastern country could be imminent.

Venezuela's crude production has fallen from nearly 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in early 2016 to around 1.5 million bpd due to a political and economic crisis. "Yet the possibility that the USA will not pull out of the deal reduced the risk premium for oil causing a sell off along with a sudden spooked United States stock market".

Figures from Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) show Iran produces 3.8 million barrels of oil per day, deeming it the third largest producer of the 14 member organisation after Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Flynn said, though, that the growing global economy is driving global oil demand. Chief Financial Officer Brad Halverson said, however, that first-quarter adjusted profit per share "will be the high watermark for the year". Official data from the US EIA will be released later today.

A pact forged by Opec and non-Opec producers such as Russian Federation, the largest producer outside the group, has lowered global inventories of crude, reversing a three-year price slump that saw prices fall as low as $29 a barrel in 2016.

Crude imports climbed 539,000 b/d last week to 8.469 million b/d, while refinery utilization rates averaged 90.8% for the week ending April 20, down 1.6%.

COMMENTS

Recent Posts

US Department of Commerce to accept additional evidence from ZTEApr 27, 2018
This suspicion of possible espionage has lead to the collapse of a deal that would being Huawei devices to United States telcos. Even before the export ban on ZTE , the US Congress barred the Pentagon from buying equipment from ZTE and Huawei Technologies.

Republicans don't want Trump to fire MuellerApr 27, 2018
Despite the bipartisan vote, there's still no clear passage for the legislation to move forward beyond the Judiciary Committee. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , a Republican from Kentucky, will bring the bill to the Senate floor for a full vote.

Apple Needs 100M iPhone OLED PanelsApr 26, 2018
Also, analyst Jun Zhang has reiterated previous reports which had suggested the three iPhone models that could release this year. The reasonable price tag will help push the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s users to upgrade to the " iPhone 8S" aka "Jaguar" model.

Ministries, courts filled with RSS people: Rahul GandhiApr 26, 2018
Taking a dig at the Congress leader, he said: "If Rahul Gandhi eats food at a Dalit's house, it is a good thing". They thought India's Constitution, institutions, the Supreme Court had a lot of value and looked up to us.

Here's India's likely schedule, venues and moreApr 26, 2018
The reason for a delayed start for them is due to a request from the BCCI for a 15 day window between the IPL and an global match. The tournament, held in England for the first time since 1999, will start on May 30 when England play South Africa at the Oval.

Amazon teases its upcoming Fire TV CubeApr 25, 2018
FreeTime Unlimited costs $2.99 a month, but the device won't simply stop working when that free subscription runs its course. The company's Echo devices, on the other hand, are voice-controlled speakers designed entirely around the speaker's voice.